President Barack Obama Friday nominated Rosa “Rosie” Gumataotao Rios, a former economic development official for Oakland, Fremont, San Leandro and Union City, to serve as U.S. treasurer.

The treasurer advises the secretary of the treasury on matters relating to coinage, currency and the production of other instruments by the federal government. The treasurer’s signature, as well as the treasury secretary’s, must appear on paper money before it can become legal tender.

The treasurer also serves as one of the Treasury Department’s principal advisers and spokesperson in the area of financial literacy and education. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Rios will be the third consecutive California Latina to hold the post, following Rosario Marin and Anna Escobedo Cabral.

Rios most recently has been managing director of investments for MacFarlane Partners, a real estate investment management firm with more than $11 billion in assets under management. After working to mobilize the Latino vote in Virginia during last year’s presidential campaign, Rios took a leave of absence from MacFarlane Partners to serve as a member of the incoming Obama Administration’s Treasury/Federal Reserve Transition Team.

Before joining MacFarlane Partners, she was a principal with Red River Associates, a consulting firm specializing in providing development, project management and executive management services for municipalities.

And before that, Rios from 2001 through 2003 was Oakland’s Economic Development & Redevelopment director, managing a staff of nearly 100 tasked with facilitating business opportunities in the city and revitalizing its downtown and neighborhood corridors. She’d been hired by then City Manager Robert Bobb, and was fired by Mayor Jerry Brown after Bobb’s ouster. Bobb said Friday he served as one of Rios’ references and they “had several conversations as she was going through the vetting process.”

Oakland City Attorney John Russo said Rios “is one of the hardest working, most innovative and dedicated public servants I’ve ever had the honor to work with. I’m sure she will do a great job for our country in her new role as U.S. Treasurer.”

Rios earlier served as director of economic development for Fremont; development specialist for San Leandro and manager of the Union City’s Redevelopment Agency. She still serves as a trustee of the Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association and is a board member of the California Association of Local Economic Development and of Oakland’s Spanish-Speaking Unity Council. Rios holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and romance languages and literature from Harvard University.

Rios, 43, was raised in Hayward and is a graduate of that city’s Moreau Catholic High School. Until going to Washington to be part of the transition team, she lived in Castro Valley for 14 years and in Fremont for seven years before that.